FA long game will only make muddle worse

Alf Ramsey: England's manager of yesteryear failed to qualify the country for a tournament at the first time of asking

Of all the ways the Football Association could choose to fill the gap in the England dugout, the least advisable is a temporary solution.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy wants David Bernstein to play a long game because it would suit Spurs. But England don't have time on their side - not with a World Cup in Brazil less than 30 months away.

The notion that Bernstein can wait until the end of the season before entering negotiations over Harry Redknapp may, of course, entail an element of posturing. Let's hope so, because the reality would involve sending England to the European Championships under, say, Stuart Pearce, which, though not necessarily a bad thing in itself, might produce a situation infinitely more ludicrous than the post-Capello muddle.

What if Pearce performs brilliantly, guiding England to the final, as with the Under-21s in 2009? Would he be immediately demoted? If, on the other hand, Pearce and his team flopped, he would bequeath a 23-man crisis of confidence to Redknapp, who would have just one friendly in which to restore morale before England set out on the qualifying road to Rio. And, in this context, the lessons of history should be heeded.

According to Graham Taylor, it can take a manager 18 months to adjust from club football to the different demands of the international game.

The experiences of a couple of England's most distinguished - Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson - bear this out. Each failed to qualify for a tournament at the first time of asking. And each had more time than the 14 months Redknapp will be afforded if he takes over as late as August.

True, Redknapp could liaise informally with Pearce or any other caretaker - and even materialise at his side in Poland and Ukraine, emitting inspiration and garnering experience at the same time. But such an eccentric arrangement might serve only to give the players an excuse more plausible than Capello's supposed Captain Bligh impression in South Africa. So let the FA get a move on.